Hot flashes, Check! Brain fog, Check! Insomnia, Check, Check! Does this sound like you? Girlfriend, I was a big hell yes to all of the above on my menopause transition journey and for years, literally, I suffered. I felt so out of control. AND Not one person told me the #1 way to mitigate these and other symptoms!!! AND that I had a lot of control. But, I got you girl!
​The #1 thing you must do is, DRUM ROLL PLEASE, soothe your nervous system. 

Friend, are you feeling anxiety for the first time in your life? Are things stressing you out that never bothered you before? Is sleep something you only dream about? Girl, you are not alone. A 2020 study in Brazil found that 58% of women 45-55 who were experiencing perimenopause had anxiety symptoms. And 40-50 percent experience sleep issues like insomnia. (Medical News Today) 

The cause, you ask? It may be hormonal imbalances and the forgotten hormone, progesterone. Read on, because in this post, I'm filling you in on progesterone and sharing some great lifestyle tips that may help if your heart and mind is racing.

     Oh girl,  I remember it like it was yesterday.
Standing in front of about 200 people in a large auditorium, emceeing our annual teacher recognition luncheon. It was like suddenly I was at the end of  a hot yoga class, lip and lower back sweating, hair drenched.
Then woosh! The flow unleased and I could feel it soaking my pants! Well, hello, period! I haven't seen you in months! I started to freak out. I looked at my colleague, Charlotte, and my look must have said it all. Thank goodness, she hopped up to the podium and took over the show.  I so mortified I hid in the bathroom for about 30 minutes! (later I found out, no one even noticed)  At the time I had no idea that 82% of women experience menopause symptoms and 74%  say it has a moderate to severe impact on  their work! I thought I was all alone!
Ladies! It's crucial that we normalize the conversation around menopause in the workplace.  Hormones going wild? I've got some strategies for you girlfriend! 

I woke up one day in my late forties and all hell had broken loose in my body and I had no idea why! I was so dizzy I could hardly get out of bed and I knew I was going to throw up if I moved! As time went on, the night sweats started and the hot flashes crept up my body. Then the joint pain, heart palpitations and ear ringing started. My periods either lasted for weeks or didn't show up.  I knew for certain I must have some horrible disease! But no, I wasn't dying, it was Perimenopause. 
I soon learned there were three key players responsible for this madness. My mom didn't talk to me about them, my doctor didn't talk to me about them, my friends didn't talk about them! If I had to rate me knowledge of the three key players, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, I would say that I had heard them and knew a simplistic definition of each related to the reproductive system, but that was the extent of it. I had NO idea what their decline would actually mean other than my period would eventually stop. Friend, I don't want you to have my experience, so I'm going to break it down for you. Let's spend the next little bit getting to know these snarky little hormones and how they impact ALL, yes, ALL the systems!

It may be a flutter, or feel like it is about to explode!  It may be so slight that you hardly notice it or it may be beating like a drum! That's your heart on palpitations during perimenopause. And it was one of the most unnerving things during my journey. The more anxious I got about them, the worse they seemed!

I made several  trips to my doctor, finally asked for an EKG and no one mentioned it could be menopause related. I made John drive me to the fire station in our neighborhood to get checked out, I even had my colleague call her firefighter husband to stop by our office and take my blood pressure. No one mentioned menopause! Girlfriend, it was so scary! I had no idea hormone fluctuations could do that to a girl! But finally thanks to Google and a new doctor I got some answers. 
​
The good news is, as with most things during perimenopause, heart palpitations are usually not serious and tend to subside when you are post menopause. (P.S. always talk to your doctor when your hearts involved, seek immediate attention if you have pain in your arms, shortness of breath, chest pain) 
Are you curious about why they happen and how to lessen the drama of them? Read on , sister!